Electronic gaming machines (EGM), such as slot machines, video poker machines, and the like, have become a cornerstone of the gaming industry. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines, and the expectation of winning at each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are typically attracted to the most engaging, entertaining and exciting machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ technologically advanced gaming devices that can provide the most engaging, entertaining and exciting game features and enhancements because such devices attract frequent play and, hence, increase profitability to the operator. Thus, gaming manufacturers continuously endeavor to develop advanced gaming machines with improved gaming enhancements that will attract frequent play and player loyalty through enhanced entertainment value to the player.
A significant technical challenge is to improve the operation of gaming apparatuses and games played thereon, including the manner in which they leverage an underlying random element generator, by making them yield a negative return on investment in the long run (via a high quantity and/or frequency of player/apparatus interactions), and yet random and volatile enough to make players feel they can get lucky and win in the short run. Striking the right balance between yield versus randomness and volatility to create a feeling of luck involves addressing many technical problems, some of which can be at odds with one another. This “luck” factor is what appeals to core players and encourages prolonged and frequent player participation. As the industry matures, the creativity and ingenuity required to improve such operation of gaming apparatus and games grows accordingly.
Conventional slot-type wagering games include plural symbol-bearing reels, each of which has a plurality of distinct reel positions populated by a variety of different types of symbols. Traditionally, slot-type gaming machines display randomly determined outcomes that are represented to the player by select symbols on the symbol-bearing reels, and award players for game outcomes with winning symbols and combinations of symbols in accordance with a pay table. To enhance player entertainment and excitement, some slot-type gaming machines have employed “clumping” of symbols, where a “clump” can be typified as a group of identical symbols that appear adjacent one another on the same reel. For some implementations, a symbol clump consists of a single, elongated symbol—sometime referred to as a “picture symbol” or “picture clump”—that occupies multiple adjacent reel positions on the same reel. Another example is the “mega symbol” clump, which historically consists of a single, enlarged symbol that occupies both multiple adjacent reel positions on the same reel and multiple adjacent reel positions on at least two neighboring reels. By occupying multiple adjacent reel positions with one or more of the same symbols, a symbol clump typically increases the likelihood of achieving a winning outcome and, thus, winning a corresponding award.
In general, the number of symbol clumps on a given reel, if any, as well as the respective location and size of each symbol clump are customarily preset and unchangeable. Additionally, given the increased likelihood of a winning outcome, clumps are oftentimes permanently assigned to symbols corresponding to lower award values on the pay table. Like the fixed location and size of a particular clump, the overall number of mega symbols available in a given wagering game for populating the array positions as part of an outcome is customarily preset and unchangeable (i.e., the number of mega symbols remains the same from play to play). Because a conventional mega symbol is assigned to multiple neighboring reels, which can require that these reels be indexed to spin in unison, the overall number of mega symbols is limited to ensure there are reels that spin individually. Reel positions above and below most mega symbols are populated by standard-sized symbols (e.g., symbols occupying a single reel position) to control the game's volatility and expected value. Because symbol clumping offers tremendous advantages in player appeal and excitement relative to other known features, and because such games are attractive to both players and operators, there is a continuing need to develop gaming systems with new types of games to satisfy the demands of players and operators.